'BJP Moving Towards Establishing Authoritarian Dominance In Parliament', Alleges Cong MP Singhvi

Singhvi slammed the Central govt for the alleged 'expunction' of several Cong leaders for remarks in Parliament pertaining to the Adani-Hindenburg row.

File Photo of Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Source : ANI

New Delhi: Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Sunday slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government for the alleged "expunction" of several Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge for remarks in Parliament pertaining to the Adani-Hindenburg row and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is moving towards establishing an "authoritarian" dominance in Parliament.

"The BJP government is moving towards establishing an authoritarian dominance in Parliament by terrifying, terrorizing, tormenting, and tyrannizing the Opposition," Singhvi said while addressing the reporters, as quoted by the news agency ANI. Calling the government a "control and command freak," Singhvi said there was nothing in either leader's remark that merited such a move.

"Not a word stated therein justifies the use of the power of expunction. You can ask for the text if not already with you and see that there is no use of unparliamentary language, no expletive, no debasement of any institution, and no objectionable or abusive word or phrase. There is absolutely nothing which is remotely defamatory or indecent or unparliamentary or undignified in those addresses," he said. Rahul Gandhi and Kharge spoke extremely politely and respectfully and based their addresses on factual narratives, he further said.

The BJP does not want the parliament to run through consensus, collaboration, and concordance, but through clash, chaos, and conflict, he added. Calling Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar as "custodians and defenders of freedom of speech inside the Houses" Singhvi said that unless "free, frank and fearless discussion is allowed to take place within the two Houses of Parliament, democracy is fundamentally and irreversibly imperiled", as reported by ANI. 

"Without their robust shield, the spirit of healthy parliamentary discussion and debate will perish. Freedom of speech is the foundation of our Constitution and even more so within the legislature. Each one of us has to defend the right to free speech on the floor of the two Houses. If the two Houses cease to be a space for free speech, then we will no longer be able to call ourselves a democracy," he added, as quoted by ANI.